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Equus (play)

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Cover of 1993 Longman edition of Equus.

Equus is a play by Peter Shaffer written in 1973, telling the story of a psychiatrist who attempts to treat a young man who has a pathological religious/sexual fascination with horses.^[1]

Shaffer was inspired to write Equus when he heard of a crime involving a teenage boy who blinded six horses. He set out to construct a fictional account of what might have caused the incident, without knowing any of the details of the crime. The play is essentially a detective story, with the psychiatrist trying to understand the cause of the boy's actions while wrestling with his own sense of purpose.

1 Plot summary
2 Original productions
3 Film adaptation
4 Revivals
5 Popular culture
6 References
7 External links
- 7.1 2007 West End production links

The play is set in the office of psychiatrist, Dr. Martin Dysart.^[2] It begins with a monologue from Dysart in which he outlines that the case of seventeen-year old Alan Strang is among the strangest with which he has ever dealt. He also divulges feelings that his occupation is not all that he wishes it would be. He sees so many troubled young people and there is a never-ending supply of them for him to "adjust". A court official visits Dysart as she believes he has the skills in his profession to help Alan come to terms with a violent act he perpetrated. Alan had, seemingly inexplicably, blinded six horses at a stable in which he worked.

To begin with, Dysart has a great deal of difficulty making any kind of headway with Alan who responds to any kind of questioning by singing advertising jingles. Slowly, Dysart makes contact with Alan by playing a kind of game where each of them asks a question which must be answered honestly. He finds out that from an early age Alan has been receiving conflicting viewpoints on religion from his parents. Dora Strang, a devout Christian and the mother of Alan, read to him daily from the Bible. This antagonizes Alan's atheist father, Frank Strang, who, concerned that Alan took far too much interest in the more violent aspects of the Bible, specifically the crucifixion of Christ, takes out his frustration by destroying a picture of the crucifixion that Alan has at the foot of his bed. He replaced the picture with one of a horse.

In conversation with Dysart, Frank reveals that one night he saw Alan kneeling in front of the picture of the horse chanting a made-up genealogy of horses parodying that of Christ in the Bible. The list of names ends with "Equus." Whilst kneeling, Alan takes a coat hanger and flagellates. Through further questioning of Alan, it is revealed that he made up for his lack of a focus for his worship by deifying horses. Alan believes that the spirit of Equus resides in all horses.

Alan has a job working in a shop selling electrical goods, where he meets Jill Mason. She visits the shop wanting blades for horse-clippers. Alan is instantly interested when he discovers that Jill has such close contact with horses. Jill suggests that Alan work for the owner of the stables, Harry Dalton, and Alan agrees.

Alan is held by Dalton to be a model worker, since he keeps the stables immaculately clean and grooms the horses, including one named "Nugget." Through Dysart's questioning, it becomes clear that Alan is erotically fixated on Nugget and secretly takes him for midnight rides. Alan rides him bareback and naked enjoying the feeling of the power of the animal and the smell of the sweat.

One day, Jill asks Alan to take her to a pornography theatre. While there, they run into Frank. They all leave embarrassed after giving weak excuses for their presence in the theater. However, this chance occurrence allows Alan to realize that sex is a natural thing that all men - even his father - do. Alan walks Jill home but Jill suggests that they go to the stables to have sex. Alan is very nervous in the stable as he hears the horses moving around. He is frustrated that his nervousness makes him unable to get an erection. He threatens Jill with a hoof pick and makes her leave the stable. When she is gone he blames the horses and the spirit of Equus for his embarrassment, and punishes the six horses by blinding them for seeing his shame.

The play concludes with Dysart questioning the fundamentals of his practice and whether or not what he does will actually 'help' Alan, as the effect of his treatment will remove Alan's extremely intense sexual and religious connections. Dysart also reflects upon his life noticing that it has not yielded any such comparable passion, and that he has the bit in his mouth.

The play was originally staged at the Royal National Theatre at the Old Vic in London in 1973. It was directed by John Dexter and starred Alec McCowen as psychiatrist Martin Dysart and Peter Firth as Alan Strang, the young patient. It was subsequently presented on Broadway at the Plymouth Theatre with Anthony Hopkins and Peter Firth.

Later on, Tom Hulce played the role of Alan Strang, and Anthony Perkins replaced Hopkins as Martin Dysart. Perkins was briefly replaced by Richard Burton for the star's return to Broadway for a limited run. Perkins resumed the part when Burton's run ended. The play received a Tony Award for best play in 1975.

Equus was acclaimed not only for its dramatic craftmanship and the performances by the stars, but also for its brilliantly original staging. The horses were portrayed by actors in brown track suits, wearing a wire abstraction of a horse's head. The entire cast, including the actors playing the horses, remained seated on stage for the play's duration, watching the action along with the audience. Part of the audience was seated on the stage as well, in bleachers that looked out into the auditorium, creating the effect that the spectators surrounded the action.

Main article: Equus (film)

Shaffer adapted the play for a 1977 film starring Richard Burton, Peter Firth, Eileen Atkins, Colin Blakely, Joan Plowright, and Jenny Agutter, directed by Sidney Lumet.

Main article: Equus 2007 (film)

Massachusetts' Berkshire Theatre Festival revived Equus in the Summer of 2005, staged by Scott Schwartz, with Victor Slezak as Dysart and Randy Harrison as Strang. (Roberta Maxwell, who originated the role of Jill in the original 1970s Broadway production, played Heasther in this revival.)

George Takei played Dysart in a 2006 revival, featuring an Asian Pacific cast, done at East West Players in Los Angeles, California. His Star Trek co-star, Leonard Nimoy, had played Dysart late in the play's 1970s Broadway run.

Equus was revived in 2007 in London's West End, with Richard Griffiths and Daniel Radcliffe in the leading roles. The production was directed by Thea Sharrock, and opened in February 2007 at the Gielgud Theatre. The production attracted a lot of press attention, as both Radcliffe and Griffiths appear in the Harry Potter film franchise. In particular the casting of seventeen year-old Radcliffe caused some controversy, since the role of Alan Strang required him to appear naked on stage.^[3] Radcliffe insisted that the nude scene was not "gratuitous" and that he should portray the character and the scene as called for by the script. Peter Firth gave more than 1,000 performances as Alan Strang; however, Radcliffe has stated in interviews that he chose not to watch the 1977 film, as he did not want to be influenced by Firth's interpretation of the character.

Following the West End run, Radcliffe has expressed his desire to revive the role of Alan Strang on Broadway in media articles and interviews and has speculated that, due to his current Harry Potter filming schedule, "Equus" would likely make its transfer to Broadway in late 2008. Richard Griffiths would reprise his role as psychiatrist, Dr. Martin Dysart, and other cast members from the 2007 West End production may join the Broadway run if this can be arranged; however, Radcliffe has stated in interviews that he and Griffiths are "definites" for a Broadway revival and that the reality becomes "more probable every day."

The plans for the West End transfer have begun to take shape, both Radcliffe and Griffiths have signed on for the project, "Performances begin September 25, 2008 for a limited engagement through February 8, 2009. A theatre has not been announced. Thea Sharrock will return as director." ³

Equus is currently (November 2007) being revived by Unifaun Theatre on the island of Malta, at the Saint James Cavalier, with Alan Paris in the role of Dr. Martin Dysart and Sean Buhagiar as Alan Strang. The performance is directed by Marcelle Teuma.

In an episode of the television series Get a Life (#207, "Chris the Escort"), Chris Elliott's character attends a performance of Equus starring Max Baer Jr. and Ron Palillo.
In the Simpsons episode The Seven-Beer Snitch, a theatre marquee in Shelbyville advertises "Sideshow Mel in Equus". Recently, it was also in another episode, Springfield Up, where Homer decides as one of his new jobs to make Play-doh scenes which shows a scene from Equus. Interestingly, this episode originally aired on the same weekend the 2007 revival premiered in London.
Equus was briefly mentioned on an episode of That '70s Show
In the popular book, (later made a film adaption starring James McAvoy) 'Starter for Ten' by David Nicholls, it is mentioned that Bristol University's Theatre club is putting on Equus that year.
The play was the focus of a 2006 article by the satirical newspaper The Onion with the headline Second-Graders Wow Audience With School Production Of Equus.^[4]
Blonde Redhead's album Misery is a Butterfly includes a track entitled "Equus".
The Barnes & Barnes album Voobaha includes a song called "Clip Clop (Ode to Equus)".
In an episode of The Golden Girls entitled "Mrs. George Devereaux", Dorothy mentions that Sonny Bono and Lyle Waggoner played the lead roles in a production of Equus.
In John Morgan Wilson's book The Limits of Justice, the plot centers heavily on a pedophile's ranch, named "Equus".
Goran Visnjic got his start in acting when he was 12, with a part in a Croatian stage production of Equus. He received a standing ovation.
In the June 2007 issue of Out magazine, a fashion story started by model Chad White was inspired by Equus.